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1.
Since Euro-American settlement of the region, biological diversity of the northern Great Plains has been adversely affected, mainly by agricultural conversion. The role of invasive plants in degradation of remaining prairies has gained attention in recent years but remains poorly understood. Floristic composition of US Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) prairies is significantly altered, mainly by invasion of smooth brome (Bromus inermis Leyss.), Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.), and woody vegetation. We measured floristic composition of about 90 000 ha of Service-owned mixed-grass and tallgrass prairie in North Dakota, South Dakota, and northeastern Montana. Our primary objective was to identify factors associated with greater native grass-forb plant assemblages, while conversely identifying features more aligned with Kentucky bluegrass, smooth brome, and low shrub invasion. Service-owned prairies had a higher frequency of native grass-forb farther from habitat edges, such as cropland boundaries and roads, and on harsher ecological sites composed of poorer soils, steeper slopes, or with southern and western exposures. Kentucky bluegrass, smooth brome, and low shrubs differed in their respective responses to explanatory variables we considered and also reportedly differ in response to management actions such as fire and grazing. Therefore, prairie managers can expect significant challenges during restoration management in cases where two or more of these invaders occur. By understanding patterns of invasion related to edaphic, edge, and landscape features, prairie restorationists can focus on areas where the probability of restoration success is greater and better understand how these features might influence restoration success or failure.  相似文献   

2.
Rangeland management strategies impact biodiversity, the quality and quantity of ecosystem services, and overall rangeland resiliency. Previous management strategies, coupled with climate change, have led to widespread invasion by Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis; bluegrass) in the Northern Great Plains, United States. Bluegrass invasions are expected to have detrimental impacts on biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services provided by rangelands. Yet none have investigated how bluegrass invasions influence pollinator populations, which are a prominent conservation concern and provide ecosystem services. We measured the impact of bluegrass invasion on mixed-grass prairie forb and butterfly communities. Obligate grassland butterflies, those that rely on grasslands, decreased as bluegrass cover increased, including the threatened Hesperia dacotae. Conversely, the abundance of facultative grassland butterflies, those found in grasslands but not fully dependent on them for their life history, increased as bluegrass increased. Moreover, plant species diversity and flowering forb species richness decreased as bluegrass cover increased. Overall, bluegrass invasion led to butterfly and plant community simplification, signaling a loss of biodiversity and potentially ecosystem services. Our research is the first to quantify how grassland butterflies and the floral resources they depend on are negatively impacted by bluegrass invasion. Resource managers should adopt management strategies that reduce bluegrass cover and improve nectar and host resources for obligate grassland butterflies. Management choices that removed disturbance regimes inherent to the Northern Great Plains (i.e., fire and grazing) led to bluegrass dominance in the region. Therefore, restoring disturbance regimes may be one way to reduce bluegrass and benefit pollinator populations.  相似文献   

3.
Achieving economically optimum livestock production on rangelands can conflict with conservation strategies that require lower stocking rate to maintain wildlife habitat. Combining the spatial and temporal interaction of fire and grazing (pyric–herbivory) is a conservation-based approach to management that increases rangeland biodiversity by creating heterogeneous vegetation structure and composition. However, livestock production under pyric–herbivory has not been reported. In both mixed-grass prairie and tallgrass prairie, we compared livestock production in pastures with traditional fire and grazing management (continuous grazing, with periodic fire on tallgrass prairie and without fire on mixed-grass prairie) and conservation-based management (pyric–herbivory applied through patch burning) at a moderate stocking rate. Stocker cattle weight gain, calf weight gain, and cow body condition score did not differ (P > 0.05) between traditional and conservation-based management at the tallgrass prairie site for the duration of the 8-yr study. At the mixed-grass prairie site, stocker cattle gain did not differ in the first 4 yr, but stocker cattle gained more (P ≤ 0.05) on conservation-based management and remained 27% greater for the duration of the 11-yr study. Moreover, variation among years in cattle performance was less on pastures under conservation management. Traditional management in mixed-grass prairie did not include fire, the process that likely was associated with increased stocker cattle performance under conservation management. We conclude that pyric–herbivory is a conservation-based rangeland management strategy that returns fire to the landscape without reduced stocking rate, deferment, or rest.  相似文献   

4.
Large mammal grazing is considered an important biological process that structures many grassland plant communities. While herbivorous arthropods are also important consumers in terrestrial systems, their interaction with large mammal grazing is poorly studied. We performed a field experiment in a tallgrass prairie manipulating arthropod abundance in both bison-grazed and ungrazed areas following a prescribed burn and monitored the plant community for 15 mo. Total plant biomass was unchanged by the end of the experiment, but individual biomass of forbs and grasses was altered by our manipulations. Forb biomass in the bison-grazed/arthropod-reduced plots was two to three times higher than other treatments, while grass biomass was higher in bison-grazed plots where arthropods were unmanipulated. Grass and forb richness showed smaller responses, with a significant difference only in ungrazed areas. Our results suggest that bison grazing and arthropod herbivory work in a complementary way; bison reduce grass biomass, allowing forbs to increase, while herbivorous arthropods reduce forb biomass, allowing grasses to increase. Our study showed that removing herbivorous arthropods may have lengthened the transition from forb to grass dominance, therefore delaying the return of conditions conducive to future disturbance by fire. Therefore, we argue that arthropod herbivory, interacting with large mammal grazing, is an additional important process affecting the plant community composition and disturbance patterns in tallgrass prairies and should be investigated further in additional grassland systems.  相似文献   

5.
The fire-grazing interaction is well studied in mesic grasslands worldwide, but research is limited in semiarid systems. We examined the principal drivers and feedbacks of the fire-grazing interaction on the strength of cattle grazing selection, herbaceous biomass, crude protein, and vegetation structure and composition in two pastures in the Northern Great Plains. Cattle showed significant preference, use, and grazing utilization in recently burned patches that declined as time since fire increased. Cattle selection was driven by significantly increased crude protein in recent burns. Grazing utilization of 70% in patches with < 1 yr after fire established low herbaceous biomass, but the extent to which it was maintained varied with precipitation. Herbaceous biomass increased to nonburned levels 2 yr after fire, and crude protein decreased to nonburned levels 120 d after fire. Species composition was influenced primarily by site and year, though bare ground and litter were influenced by the fire-grazing interaction. Our data indicate that mixed-grass prairies of the Northern Great Plains are resilient to the fire-grazing interaction and that rest from grazing following fire is likely ecologically unnecessary. The use of the fire-grazing interaction is an alternative management strategy suitable for the Northern Great Plains, effectively increasing heterogeneity of grassland habitat.  相似文献   

6.
The majority of native prairie has been lost throughout North America. Much of the remaining prairie is used for livestock grazing, so conservation of prairie species depends on sustainable grazing practices. Our objective was to evaluate the benefits of twice-over rotational grazing, in comparison with continuous season-long grazing and ungrazed “idle” fields, in conserving prairie songbirds. Northern mixed-grass prairie in southwest Manitoba, Canada is near the northern range limits for many endangered grassland birds, and thus is an important area for evaluating the contribution of twice-over grazing in the conservation of songbirds, including species at risk. In 2008 and 2009, we compared the relative abundances and diversity of grassland birds on 22 twice-over rotation, 15 season-long, and 8 ungrazed sites, using multiple 100-m fixed-radius point-count plots per site. Analyses were conducted using generalized linear mixed models. Although one obligate grassland bird, Savannah sparrows (Passerculus sandwichensis), had significantly higher relative abundances on twice-over than season-long sites in 2009, season-long pastures had higher species richness and diversity of obligate grassland birds in both years. Season-long grazing may actually benefit grassland bird communities by creating spatially heterogeneous but temporally stable areas of high and low livestock use within the pasture, thus increasing diversity of microhabitats. We found little evidence that twice-over grazing contributed to the conservation of grassland songbirds in subhumid northern mixed-grass prairies.  相似文献   

7.
2009年9月,用点样（Point Quatfats）法调查了云南省滇西北贡山县迪麻村色娃龙巴高山牧场的4种不同土大黄覆盖率群落的空间垂直分布,并采用Shannon’s多样性指数（H）和均匀性指数（EH）对物种和群落多样性进行了分析。结果表明,云南省滇西北高山牧场有比较丰富的牧草资源,共25种;中等和中上等的土大黄覆盖率群落里具有最多的物种丰富度和最高的物种多样性指数,同时也具有高的物种均衡性;其次是高等的土大黄覆盖率群落;低等的土大黄覆盖率群落里则具有最低的物种丰富度和物种多样性指数。这些结果表明,土大黄对高山草地的生物多样性的影响并不明显,造成高山草地生物多样性变化的主要原因是家畜的放牧强度和频率。  相似文献   

8.
Recent opposition to the rangeland management paradigm of achieving uniform, moderate grazing across entire landscapes has emerged because heterogeneity is recognized as the foundation of biodiversity, ecosystem resilience, and multifunctionality of agricultural landscapes. Agriculture production goals appear to drive the traditional rangeland management focus on homogeneity and uniformity. To determine if preference for homogeneity is a broadly applicable social construct or one limited to agricultural producers, we determined preferences for heterogeneous grassland landscapes expressed by three study populations—managers of working lands (ranchers), natural resource professionals (grassland/rangeland specialists), and the general population living in rangeland regions within the US Great Plains. We distributed surveys that included photographs of landscapes and patterned images to assess preference. Preference for heterogeneous landscapes among ranchers, natural resource professionals, and the general population in our study area were generally consistent with the central paradigm of managing rangeland for homogeneity. However, we discovered that people, across geographic location and population group, clearly prefer heterogeneous patterned images to homogeneous patterned images. This suggests that preference for homogeneity is acquired.  相似文献   

9.
Encroachment of Great Plains grasslands by fire-sensitive woody plants is a large-scale, regional process that fragments grassland landscapes. Using prairie grouse (Tympanuchus spp.) of conservation concern, we apply hierarchy theory to demonstrate how regional processes constrain lower-level processes and reduce the success of local management. For example, fire and grazing management may be locally important to conservation, but the application of fire and grazing disturbances rarely cause irreversible fragmentation of grasslands in the Great Plains. These disturbance processes cause short-term alterations in vegetation conditions that can be positive or negative, but from a long-term perspective fire maintains large tracts of continuous rangelands by limiting woody plant encroachment. Conservation efforts for prairie grouse should be focused on landscape processes that contribute to landscape fragmentation, such as increased dominance of trees or conversion to other land uses. In fact, reliance on local management (e.g., maintaining vegetation structure) to alter prairie grouse vital rates is less important to grouse population persistence given contemporary landscape level changes. Changing grass height, litter depth, or increasing the cover of forbs may impact a few remaining prairie-chickens, but it will not create useable space at a scale relevant to the historic conditions that existed before land conversion and fire suppression.  相似文献   

10.
Tallgrass prairie may respond differently to prescribed burning and subsequent preferential grazing, termed pyric herbivory, under variable climate conditions. This 6-yr study (2011−2016) compared tallgrass prairie pastures that were subjected to burned and unburned conditions while exposed to grazing under differing climate conditions in the Southern Great Plains of the United States. The study area consisted of six pastures, three burned and three unburned. Each burned pasture was further divided into three patches and subjected to a 3-yr rotational burning cycle. The Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) derived from Landsat 7/8 (EVILS) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS, EVIMOD) was used to indicate vegetation production depending on size of pastures. On the basis of EVILS, most burned patches (11 of 18) had lesser production (overall difference of 3%) than unburned patches within the same pasture. The differences were larger (13%) in a drought yr (2011) compared with normal (3% in 2013) and wet (<1% in 2015) yrs. The distribution of precipitation controlled EVILS for periods during and after grazing. The burned patches tended to have lower EVILS during grazing periods than the unburned patches within the same pasture, probably because of selective grazing of newly grown grass in recently burned patches. In contrast, the differences in EVILS between during and after grazing periods were mostly (78%) smaller in burned than unburned patches. However, more variations in EVILS existed among pasture comparisons due to landscape heterogeneity. Similar results were observed with EVIMOD. Overall, results demonstrated that pyric herbivory management and climate determine the impacts of grazing on tallgrass prairie systems. The contrasting seasonal forage availabilities in burned and unburned patches, indicated by different seasonality of EVI, also suggests that patch burning might better balance the quantity and quality of the grass available for cattle grazing.  相似文献   

11.
为了解人类放牧活动和气候变化对我国北方沙质草地植物多样性的影响,笔者于1992-2006年在科尔沁沙地开展了草地放牧和封育试验,分析研究了人类放牧活动和降水、气温变化对草地植物多样性的影响.结果表明,1)放牧干扰对草地物种丰富度和多样性有着明显的影响,随着草地放牧干扰强度的增加,草地物种丰富度和植物多样性呈下降趋势,但只有持续重牧才会导致草地物种丰富度和多样性的明显降低;2)放牧干扰对草地不同生活型多样性和不同经济类群多样性的影响有很大差异,表现为随着放牧强度的增加,一年生植物多样性和禾本科植物多样性明显增加,多年生植物及菊科、藜科和杂类草植物多样性明显下降;3)不同放牧强度下的不同生活型多样性和经济类群多样性对气候变化的反应有很大差异,但除了重牧区菊科植物多样性与降水变化、中牧区杂类草植物多样性与气温变化达到显著相关外,其他相关性均未达到显著水平;4)在草地自然恢复演替过程中,暖湿气候有利于草地物种丰富度和多样性的增加,特别是可以明显促进多年生植物以及菊科、豆科植物多样性的增加,而持续暖干气候可以降低草地的物种丰富度和多样性,但对禾本科和藜科植物多样性的不利影响较小.  相似文献   

12.
The Succulent Karoo, one of two arid biodiversity hotspots in the world, is known for its high plant species richness, but little is known about the influence of topography and how it mediates the potentially deleterious effects of grazing. Changes in vegetation species composition, cover and species diversity were examined along piosphere gradients on northerly slopes, bottomlands and low-lying plains on 45 farms. Landscapes differed in the plant speciesand life-form composition, species richness and cover, with the more species-rich, heterogeneous grassy northerly slopes distinct from the plains and bottomlands, which were dominated by Pteronia pallens, Psilocaulon junceum and Drosanthenum spp. with more annual and ephemeral species. Overall, species richness declined linearly with decreasing rangeland condition. A weak grazing effect was detected only on the north-facing slopes, where shrubs and grass decreased with intense grazing. Years of overgrazing have resulted in the widespread dominance of P. pallens, especially on the plains and bottomlands, rendering them insensitive to grazing. The current condition of the northern slopes should be maintained and managed such that palatable species can spread to more degraded areas of the landscape.  相似文献   

13.
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14.
We assessed the total length of external arbuscular mycorrhizal hyphae as a function of plant species and functional form richness in restored northern tallgrass prairies. Total hyphal length increased with species and functional form richness. Hyphal length also increased when plant communities were dominated by species with high root density, high root to shoot ratios, and high nitrogen use efficiency. Hyphal length was positively correlated with the biomass of late successional C4 grasses (Andropogon gerardi Vitman, Panicum virgatum L., Schizachyrium scoparium [Michx.] Nash-Gould, and Sorghastrum nutans L.), which are obligately mycorrhizal and characterized by high root to shoot ratios, and high root surface area per unit of root biomass. We thus conclude that in order to recover extraradical arbuscular mycorrhizal hyphal length in restored northern tallgrass prairies, at least three factors need to be given priority: 1) achieving high levels of species and functional form richness; 2) making sure that late successional C4 grasses are present; and 3) making sure that the seed mixture includes species that are characterized by high root to shoot ratio, high root density, and high nitrogen-use efficiency.  相似文献   

15.
通过2年的连续放牧试验,采用比较样地法,调查了不同放牧强度对环青海湖高寒草原生物多样性和生产力的影响,并探讨了植物物种多样性与草地生产力之间的关系,为高寒草原的合理利用提供基础资料。结果表明:物种丰富度和多样性指数随放牧强度的增加基本呈单峰变化,即在中度放牧下多样性最高,重度放牧下群落物种丰富度、多样性指数和均匀度指数均表现为最小;群落生产力随放牧强度的增加而降低(P<0.05);莎草科地上生物量差异不显著,禾本科和豆科生产力降低(P<0.05),杂类草生物量有增加趋势;禾草和豆科比例减小,莎草和杂类草比例增加;草地生产力与Simpson多样性指数和Alatalo均匀度指数呈显著的单峰函数关系(R2=0.910, P=20.027; R2=0.953, P=20.010),结合Simpson多样性指数和Alatalo均匀度指数才能更好地反映维持草地生产力水平的多样性指标。放牧强度是影响群落物种多样性和生产力及其关系的重要因素。  相似文献   

16.
2009年9月,用点样法调查了云南省滇西北贡山县迪麻村色娃龙巴高山牧场的4种不同土大黄(Rumexnepalensis)覆盖率群落的空间垂直分布,并采用Shannon’s多样性指数(H)和平均数(EH)对物种和群落多样性进行了分析。结果表明,调查的草地群落里共有25种牧草资源;土大黄覆盖率与毛囊苔草(Carexinanis)和银叶委陵菜(Potentillaleuconota)覆盖率呈负相关,与拉拉藤(Galiumaparine var.echino-spermu)和中华水芹(Oenanthe sinense)覆盖率呈正相关(P0.05);中等和中上等的土大黄覆盖率群落里具有最高的物种丰富度(19、17)、物种多样性指数(2.40、2.32)和物种均衡性(0.82、0.82),其次是高等的土大黄覆盖率群落,低等的土大黄覆盖率群落里则具有最低的物种丰富度(15)和物种多样性指数(1.98)。然而,低等的土大黄覆盖率群落里具有最高的总物种密度(15.65)。这些结果表明,土大黄对高山草地植物物种多样性的影响并不明显,造成物种多样性变化的主要原因是家畜的放牧强度和频率。  相似文献   

17.
Woody plant encroachment in natural grasslands is a widely documented global phenomenon that alters ecosystem dynamics by altering historic vegetation composition and suppressing herbaceous productivity. Abundant woody plants often suppress native plants sufficiently to establish successional thresholds difficult to reverse without species augmentation. Juniper (Juniperus virginiana L.) is expanding in North American tallgrass prairie, but it is currently unknown if encroachment creates successional restrictions that limit restoration potential. We selected 16 50×50-m sites with juniper canopy cover ranging from zero to approximately 75% in tallgrass prairie near Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA. Juniper trees were removed from 7 of the sites along the gradient of juniper canopy cover. Canopy cover of plant species and herbaceous plant productivity were estimated at each site 1 year before and 1, 2, and 5 years after tree removal. Before trees were removed, plant species richness and productivity declined as juniper canopy cover increased, and plant community composition dissimilarity of reference sites increased as juniper canopy cover increased. These relationships remained consistent on all non-removal sites throughout the study. The first year after juniper removal, species richness increased on all removal sites compared to intact sites and productivity on removal sites increased two years after removal. Plant community dissimilarity between reference sites and juniper removal sites remained relatively high (30–60%) the first two years after tree removal on all removal sites, but dissimilarity was about 22% 5 years after juniper removal. Within 5 years, removal sites were comparable to reference plant communities. Grassland restoration frequently requires species manipulation and additional seeding, particularly when overcoming successional limitations. Juniper encroachment into tallgrass prairie alters plant community species composition and productivity. However, in our study, juniper associated succession limitations were not apparent, and complete autogenic restoration was achieved within 5 years without seeding or species manipulation.  相似文献   

18.
We examined the independent and combined effects of prescribed fire and livestock grazing on herbaceous plant production in shortgrass steppe of northeastern Colorado in the North American Great Plains. Burning was implemented in March, before the onset of the growing season. During the first postburn growing season, burning had no influence on soil moisture, nor did it affect soil nitrogen (N) availability in spring (April–May), but it significantly enhanced soil N availability in summer (June–July). Burning had no influence on herbaceous plant production in the first postburn growing season but enhanced in vitro dry matter digestibility of blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis [Willd. ex Kunth] Lag. ex Griffiths) forage sampled in late May. For the second postburn growing season, we found no difference in herbaceous plant production between sites that were burned and grazed in the previous year versus sites that were burned and protected from grazing in the previous year. Our results provide further evidence that prescribed burns conducted in late winter in dormant vegetation can have neutral or positive consequences for livestock production because of a neutral effect on forage quantity and a short-term enhancement of forage quality. In addition, our results indicate that with conservative stocking rates, deferment of grazing during the first postburn growing season may not be necessary to sustain plant productivity.  相似文献   

19.
Inter- (between years) and intra- (within year) annual variability of precipitation are high on rangelands. We used replicated rainout shelters in a southern tallgrass prairie ecosystem to decrease precipitation variability for 3 yr (1999–2001). We removed interannual variability in total precipitation plus either 1) interannual variability in the seasonal distribution of precipitation (seasonal distribution) or 2) all additional variability in precipitation, including within-year differences in precipitation (even distribution). Our objective was to determine if decreasing variability in precipitation elicits aboveground biomass and plant diversity responses. Aboveground biomass was harvested in June (peak biomass) and December (end of growing season). Plant species diversity, richness, and evenness were determined each June. Reducing precipitation variability had limited effects on total aboveground biomass, grass and forb biomass, and biomass of key species across the 3 yr of investigation. Species richness, species diversity, species evenness, and functional group richness and diversity all were similar across the precipitation treatments across years. Total aboveground biomass and biomass of the dominant C4 perennial grasses little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) and Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans) generally were not responsive to the precipitation treatments. However, one species-specific response did occur with the annual forb firewheel (Gaillardia pulchella Foug.) displaying consistent increases in biomass in the seasonal distribution precipitation treatment across all 3 yr. This suggests that increased predictability of precipitation at a given stage of this species’s growth can elicit changes in productivity of a single species that are not manifest at the community level due to constraints of the dominant species. These findings indicate that the southern tallgrass prairie ecosystem is adaptable to changes in precipitation to result in relatively stable production that facilitates simpler predictions in response to altered precipitation regimes.  相似文献   

20.
State-and-transition models for semiarid grasslands in the North American Great Plains suggest that the presence of herbivorous black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) on a site 1) creates a vegetation state characterized by increased dominance of annual forbs and unpalatable bunchgrasses and increased bare soil exposure and 2) requires long-term (> 40 yr) prairie dog removal to transition back to a vegetation state dominated by palatable perennial grasses. Here, we examine 1) how the recent history of prairie dog occupancy on a site (1–10 yr) influences the magnitude of prairie dog effects on vegetation composition and 2) how occupancy history affects vegetation dynamics following extirpation of prairie dogs. We used a natural experiment in the shortgrass steppe of northeastern Colorado, USA, where prairie dogs were extirpated from multiple sites during an outbreak of epizootic plague. On sites occupied by prairie dogs for 1–4 yr prior to extirpation, plant cover and composition recovered to conditions similar to unoccupied sites within a single growing season. Larger reductions in perennial C4 grasses occurred on sites occupied for the prior 7–10 yr compared to sites with shorter occupancy histories (< 6 yr). On sites occupied for the prior 7–10 yr, C4 perennial grasses recovered after 5 yr following prairie dog extirpation; in addition, C3 perennial graminoids and forbs remained more abundant (compared to sites with no history of prairie dogs) throughout the 5-yr period. Our findings showcase that prior site occupancy (up to 10 yr) by prairie dogs did not induce irreversible shifts in vegetation state in this semiarid grassland. Rather, vegetation changes induced by prairie dogs represent primarily a phase shift in landscapes where prairie dog populations are regulated by epizootic plague.  相似文献   

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